Bloc leadership race poised for lonely field of two

If you thought the NDP leadership race was looking pretty thin, it pales in comparison to the narrow field of candidates aspiring to replace Gilles Duceppe as leader of the Bloc Quebecois.

The Tories have 14 candidates vying to lead the party, and the NDP is so far at four (with a few more to possibly jump in). But for the BQ, it’s a pas de deux – and for the moment it seems that’s about it.

Former Parti Quebecois leadership candidate Martine Ouellet handed in her candidacy papers over the weekend. The established politician is the presumptive winner at this point.

Ouellet has already faced scandal surrounding her leadership bid because she plans to hold onto her seat as a Quebec MNA until the 2018 provincial election, while at the same time leading the Bloc.

Despite that, the race to lead a party of 10 MPs appears tilted in her direction.

Her only competition so far is Félix Pinel, a low-profile high school teacher who ran and lost as a BQ candidate in the 2015 election.

Ouellet is an ardent sovereignties who already has some caucus endorsements. In the last PQ leadership race, she placed third, running on a nationalist platform that included a new referendum question and a declaration that the province should have its own army, among other promises.

In the Bloc race, Ouellet promises to be a vocal opponent of Energy East and wants half of the party’s 2019 candidates to be women.

The race – if it becomes that – will be a short one. The party will choose its next leader April 22.